


Wishlist

by LOVEloveKIMminSEOK



Series: Not A Year in Life [1]
Category: EXO (Band), SHINee, Super Junior
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Angst, Anxiety, Baekhyun is British, Baekhyun seriously didn't sign up for this, Chanyeol is a romantic sap, Exchange Student!AU, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Illness, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kim Jongdae | Chen is a Little Shit, Kyungsoo is one step away from murdering everyone all the time, M/M, Minseok is the only relatively sane one, Roommates, Taemin is half japanese and pretends not to understand korean when it benefits him, Yixing is... Yixing, also Chanyeol speaks fluent english because plot, but he loves everyone anyway, it's the second time I'm doing this and it just gets harder, maknaes are cute and they know it... and use it to their favour, other idols make cameos all the time, seriously what do I even put in this tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-06-07 04:25:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 17,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15210947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LOVEloveKIMminSEOK/pseuds/LOVEloveKIMminSEOK
Summary: OrAll the things I did and never thought I would.Alternatively: When Bernard moved to Korea for his exchange year, he never imagined he would change his name, befriend 9 idiots, get a boyfriend, and live an entire life in a year.Bernard... I mean, Baekhyun is in for the adventure of his life.





	1. Welcome To Korea, Bernard Barnes

**Author's Note:**

> "italics": english  
> Bernard is Baekhyun's western name.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bernard was fucked. Bernard was standing in the middle of an airport, with no idea how…
> 
> BAM!  
> Bernard was no longer standing in the middle of an airport. Well, he was still in the middle of the airport, just that now he was sprawled on the floor, arse throbbing in pain.
> 
> Or  
> In which Bernard arrives to Korea, and meets new people in not so conventional ways.

 

Bernard couldn’t stop staring at everything around him. All so colourful, so different.

He couldn’t believe he had flown for so many hours without even realising what he was actually doing. And now, here he was. Twenty thousand kilometres away from home, away from everything he had ever known. He was 23 years old, but this was the first time he was so far away from his mother’s embrace.

He stopped walking, standing still in the middle of the huge airport, suitcase in one hand, mobile phone in the other, both hands shaking as he realised how astronomically fucked he was.

All alone, in a country he had only ever read about, in which he knew only one person, who he had never met in person, only online. Also, his Korean was quite mediocre, barely good enough to make people understand what he meant, but not enough to allow him to have any sort of decent, two sided conversation.

And, did he already mention he was completely alone? Because that was actually his biggest concern right in that moment.

Bernard was fucked. Bernard was standing in the middle of an airport, with no idea how…

BAM!

Bernard was no longer standing in the middle of an airport.  Well, he was still in the middle of the airport, just that now he was sprawled on the floor, arse throbbing in pain.

“I’m so sorry!” a deep voice said, and a hand appeared in front of his eyes. “Let me help you up, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going, are you okay?”

Bernard accepted the offered hand, helping to pull himself up.

“I’m okay” He answered, looking around himself, and picking his mobile from where it had landed after flying when he fell.

“CHANYEOL!” a short, stocky boy arrived frowning, rushing towards them. “You arrived back like, ten minutes ago and you’re already bumping into people? I swear to god, America only made you even clumsier.”

Bernard turned his head towards the boy that had knocked him to the ground, and had to stop himself from physically gaping at the person in front of him. Grey, messy hair parted to the side, long legs inside black jeans, and broad shoulders covered by an oversized hoodie. And that face.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He was snapped out of his thoughts by the short boy’s words. ”Are you sure you don’t have a concussion?” Bernard didn’t know what to answer to that question. He didn’t even know what the boy had asked. “We should probably take you to the hospital, just in case. I don’t want this idiot to end up in jail, I need his half of the rent.”

“Soo! You’re so mean to me” The tall one, Chanyeol, pouted -  _pouted_. It should’ve been illegal for someone that hot to look so adorable- pocketing his own floor which he had also fished from the floor.

“I’m okay, really, just…” He couldn’t find the Korean word for what he wanted to say.”  _Jetlag_.”

“Oh! Well, in that case, we’ll be going then, Sorry for bumping into you!” And with that, both boys disappeared into the sea of people.

Bernard stood there for a moment, before shaking his head and quickly making his way to the taxi lane. He got a cab rather quickly, and was quite proud of himself when he actually managed to make the driver understand where he was going.

The drive itself was actually rather long, well, anything was long for his sleep deprived, jetlagged, culture-shocked brain at the moment, to be honest.

He paid the cabbie as soon as he got to his destination, and just stared at the building for a moment. He took a deep breath and headed inside.

The lift was brand new, as was the interior of the building, all mirrors and sleek lines. He poked at the third floor button, and exited the lift, to find another luminous, clean corridor. He walked to the fat end, and stared at the door.

304 B. This was it. He rang the doorbell.

He heard swift footsteps on the other side of the door, and the lock being removed, before it opened.

“Hi?” The person on the other side said, cocking his head to the side.

“Hi. Chen?” The other boy nodded. “I’m your new flatmate.”

“Bernard?” He nodded. “Hi! Nice to finally meet you! Come in, come in! Sorry I didn’t recognise you, it’s barely 9 A.M, I had a drink with friends last night, and I honestly wasn’t expecting you to arrive until midday at the earliest.”

“It’s okay” Bernard winced at the amount of times he had said the word okay in that day.

The interior of the flat was big, a living room/ dining room/ kitchen, with big windows and white furniture that had three doors on the left side.

“Okay, so, this is home! I was so happy when you told me you were coming over to Seoul, my best friend and I used to live here together, but the fucker betrayed me and moved in with his boyfriend, so I was all alone, and realised there was absolutely no way I’d be able to pay rent by myself and still have enough money to survive, so you’re literally saving my life.” Boy, Chen was louder and chattier in person. Bernard’s overworked brain had understood only like, seventy per cent of all he had said, so he just nodded awkwardly. “Right, you must be tired. Left door is my room, centre door is our shared bathroom, and right door is your room. Go ahead, feel free to get comfortable.” Chen opened the door, and stepped to the side. “Oh, right, let me give you my number just in case. I know you don’t have a Korean phone yet, but just in case, you know?”

He nodded, fishing the device from the bottom of his bag, touching the power button… and looking confused when instead of his English android system and picture of his family, he found Hangul and a picture of a puppy. That was definitely not his mobile phone.

And then he remembered the tall guy that had crashed into him in the airport.

Bernard was fucked, but that was nothing new by this point.

“ _Welcome to Korea, Bernard Barnes”_  he whispered to himself, still looking down at the lock screen. “ _Welcome to Korea.”_

**\-----------------------**

 

 

**Thing I did and never thought I would #1: Grab someone else’s phone by mistake.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! If you started reading and think... hmm? I've read this before!? Then you're absolutely right, I'm a huge bloody idiot and accidentally deleted the story, so I'm reuploading it.  
> If you're new here, Welcome! I hope you liked the first chapter!!   
> I'll be re-uploading chapters slowly, and I'll try to check for mistakes, but if you see any, please let me know!!  
> The chapters won't be too long until we hit chapter 26, but I hope you stick around to see the plot start developing! 
> 
> If you want to see my never-ending fangirling and ranting about IRL stuff, you can follow me on Twitter!! twitter.com/K1mHeechu1 
> 
> Thanks for reading!!


	2. Of A Case Of Mistaken Smartphones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If you both have the same phone, then you can consider a switch and that’s it.” Chen said, mouth full of rice.  
> “Not really, all of my pictures, videos and music are inside. Also, I can’t unlock it even if I wanted, I don’t know the… password or pattern”   
> “Well, I had not thought about that. I guess you’re right. And so, how do you plan to find the guy that has your phone?”  
> “I never thought that far, actually.”
> 
> Or
> 
> Bernard gets his phone back, and maybe gets something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “italics”: english
> 
> (Also, Bernard is Baekhyun, just in case)

 

 

“If you both have the same phone, then you can consider a switch and that’s it.” Chen said, mouth full of rice.

“Not really, all of my pictures, videos and music are inside. Also, I can’t unlock it even if I wanted, I don’t know the…  _password or pattern_ ” It was amazing how easy it was to mix words in both languages, and even more amazing was the fact that Chen seemed to have no problem understanding his less than average spoken Korean mixed with English. Then again, it became much less impressive when he remembered that Chen himself had been an exchange student, so he could understand his circumstances.

“Well, I had not thought about that. I guess you’re right. And so, how do you plan to find the guy that has your phone?”

“I never thought that far, actually… I guess.”

“You could call your own number.” Bernard sent him a glare. “Right. International call. Would be far too expensive. Well, maybe you could…” As Chen was talking, an obnoxious sound started out of nowhere, and the device in his hand came to life “maybe you could answer that call. It seems we didn’t consider the fact that the other guy would also want his phone back.”

“You speak with them!” Bernard said in quick English, thrusting the phone towards Chen.

“Why me!?” Chen exclaimed.

“I barely understand spoken Korean while looking at the other person whose talking to me, I’ll panic and not understand a single word if I speak on the phone!”Chen sighed, but took the phone.

“Hello? No, I’m the owner’s friend, but yes, he was panicking trying to guess what to do, so your timing is very nice. Yes, I’ll… wait a minute, Chanyeol? It’s Jongdae, you idiot. When did you get back? Yes, he’s my new roommate. I know. Oh?!” Chen looked at Bernard, a strange smirk started to appear on his face. “Yes, I know he’s cute. “He had to put the phone away from his ear, the person on the other side was yelling so loud. “God, okay, stop with the yelling. Yes, you can drop by and you two can switch smartphones. Okay, I’ll tell him. Bye Chanyeol.”He put the phone down on the table, and stared at Bernard, who was waiting anxiously for a summary of the conversation.“Well, good news, you’re getting your phone back. Turns out the clumsy giraffe that run you over in the airport is also one of my friends from Uni, so that made things that much easier. He’ll be here tomorrow morning.”

“Thanks, Chen! You really helped me out here”

“No problem, I remember the panic of being forced to speak on the phone with someone. You’re just luck that, jetlagged and all, your Korean is much better than my Chinese was when I arrived.”

“Still, I only understand a portion of what’s being said and guess the rest. And I think I’m getting a headache from having to translate so much stuff in my mind.” Chen laughed.

“Well, welcome to the life of the exchange student, my friend!”

—————————————— 

Bernard was woken up from his nap on the couch, where he had fallen asleep after breakfast, by the ringing of the doorbell.He quickly run his hands through his hair, and tried to wake himself up by patting his face, as he waddled to the door. He opened it, and there he was. Handsome airport guy, whose name apparently was Chanyeol.

“Hi! I’m Park Chanyeol, one of Jongdae’s friends. Can I come in?”

Bernard frowned, confused.

“Jongdae?”

“Oh, right, maybe you know him by Chen?” Bernard nodded, stepping aside to let the taller one in.Chanyeol took off his shoes and instantly headed towards the couch. Bernard followed slowly, and gingerly sat on the edge of the seat.

“So, I believe this is yours…” He took the mobile phone out of his pocket, and Bernard’s face lightened up.

“ _Bernard. My name is Bernard Barnes. And I believe this is yours_.” He gave Chanyeol his own phone, taking his precious device in his hands, not even noticing Chanyeol’s shocked face.

“ _You speak English?”_  Chanyeol asked, in slightly accented English.

“ _Oh, sorry!”_  Only then did Bernard realise he wasn’t speaking Korean.” Yes, I’m from the U.K. I’m here on an exchange program.”

“Well, that explains why Jongdae answered the phone.” Bernard blushed. “ _It’s okay, really! I only just came back to Seoul, I was on an exchange program in America, so I understand_.”

“ _That’s really cool!”_  Bernard smiled.  _“So you speak fluent English?”_

“ _Not fluent, but good enough English, I guess.”_

 _“It’s a relief to hear my first language. I’ve had a 48 hour-long headache from having so much Korean around me.”_  Chanyeol laughed.

_“That will happen, at least the first couple months or so. So, do you know anyone? What University are you going to?”_

_“Seoul National University. And no, the only person I know in Korea is Chen.”_

_“I go to SNU as well, as do Jongdae and all our friends, who you’ll meet later. Don’t worry, they’re really chill. Hey, we two can go grab a bite sometime! I can show you around the campus and the city if you want.”_

_“That’d be incredible, thank you!”_

_“Great, it’s a date. Give me your number so we can plan something_.”Bernard pouted at that.

“ _I don’t gave a Korean number yet. But you can give me yours, and I’ll text you as soon as I get one_.” He unlocked the screen and handed the phone to Chanyeol, who put his number in and then gave it back.

_“There you go! So, I’d really love to stay and chat, but a) I can see you’re really jetlagged, so I think it’s best if I let you sleep and b) I need to go run errands before my roommate kills me. It was a pleasure meeting you, Bernard Barnes.”_

_“Likewise, Park Chanyeol.”_

Bernard walked Chanyeol to the door, and then collapsed on the floor as soon as it closed, taking a deep breath.

His eyes weren’t playing tricks on him at the airport.The taller boy really was stunningly handsome. And he now apparently had a date with said stunningly handsome boy. 

Maybe Bernard wasn’t _that_  fucked. 

—————————

**Thing I did and never thought I would #2: get asked out by someone I find attractive.**

 

 


	3. Of Clothes and Damsels in Distress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What the hell happened to you?”  
> “Chen, I’ve got nothing to wear!”   
> “Well, that mountain of clothes laying on your bed says otherwise"
> 
> Or
> 
> Bernard is going out and Chen is being an unhelpful friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a chronological continuation from the last one.

Bernard had no idea why he was so nervous. He had tried on basically every item of clothing he had brought with him, decided he was wearing an outfit like five times, only to scrap the idea five minutes later, and start the process all over again for the nth time.

When Chen had arrived back home in the early afternoon, he found Bernard sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room, staring at the pile of clothes on top of his bed with despair on his gaze.

“What the hell happened to you?” His flatmate said, helping him up.

“ _Chen, I’ve got nothing to wear!”_  Bernard exclaimed dramatically.

“Well, that mountain of clothes laying on your bed says otherwise, Bern.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“But Bernard is such a mouthful, dude.”

“It’s my name, Kim Jongdae.”

“It was easier to write it online than to have to say it every day, to be honest.” Bernard rolled his eyes. “Hey, stop side-tracking me! What made you attack your closet in such a violent way?”Bernard blushed.

“I’m going out to have dinner with Chanyeol today.” Chen’s eyes lit up, and Bernard could already feel the teasing that was coming. “And before you say anything, he’s taking me to a restaurant he likes and then just showing me around the city for a while.”

“Dude, Chanyeol is totally taking you out on a date, and you’re just in denial.”

“Think whatever you want, Chen, but please help me choose an outfit.”

And with Chen’s helpful guide, and by helpful read: unhelpful, mocking commentaries and teasing smiles, he managed to choose an acceptable outfit, and after that, Chen decided to actually be helpful and rush him into the bathroom, with orders to take a shower, put his outfit on, and then join him for a game of Mario, to keep his nerves at bay.They spent most of the afternoon playing, yelling at each other and laughing out loud, and Bernard relaxed, letting his friend keep his mind occupied.

Obviously, that state of relaxation flew out of the window the second the doorbell rang, and he almost fell off the couch in his haste to get up, making Chen bark out a laugh. He ignored his flatmate, running to the door and throwing it open.

“ _Chanyeol, hi!_ ” He grinned.

“ _Hi Bernard! Are you ready?”_  Chanyeol’s smile was infectious, showing all of his teeth. _“Yes! Just let me put on my shoes, and then we can go”_

The sound of someone clearing their throat made them both freeze, and Bernard remembered that Chen was still there.

“Jongdae, hi! Nice to see you!”

“Park Chanyeol, what are your intentions with our young Bernard?”

“Chen, I’m four months older than you!” Chen ignored Bernard’s words, still glaring at Chanyeol.

“Hush, Bernard Barnes, I’m talking to your date.”

“You’re not my dad, and I’m not a fifteen years old damsel in distress, Chen!” He finished putting on his shoes, and grabbed Chanyeol by the arm, dragging him out the door. Chen simply followed them, leaning against the door frame.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do! And bring him home at a decent hour, young man, this is a traditional household!”

“KIM JONGDAE!” 

 

**————————–**

**Thing I did and never thought I would #3: Go out on a date**


	4. Of Nice to Meet You, Byun Baekhyun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You should make Yoda here help you choose a Korean name already and simplify everyone’s lives, Bacon!”
> 
> Or
> 
> Bernard considers changing his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... I'm alive? Sorry I vanished for so long. Here's your regularly (ha, regularly) scheduled (extremely short) chapter.

“Good Morning, Chanyeol! Good morning, Bacon!” Bernard’s neighbour greeted them as he stepped inside the lift.

“Good Morning! And It’s Bernard, Heechul hyung, not Bacon” Both of them bowed to the older man.

“It’s too difficult to learn how to say that!” Heechul said, scratching behind his dog’s ear. “You should make Yoda here help you choose a Korean name already and simplify everyone’s lives, Bacon!”

————————

“What’s this?” Chanyeol grabbed a folder that was sitting on top of the table, intending to put the ramen cups he was making on that place. “Can I put it somewhere else?”

“Give me that, I’ll take it” Bernard said, appearing out of thin air, shocking Kyungsoo who was standing with his back towards the boy. “Those are documents I need to give the university when classes start next month.”

“Can I look through them?” Kyungsoo asked, and Bernard shrugged, handing them over.

Chanyeol started giving out ramen cups while Chen went to grab something to drink.

“You’re Korean!” Kyungsoo’s eyes were wide open in shock. Everyone stopped what they were doing, leaning closer to the short boy to try and read too. Kyungsoo held a single piece of paper, and the others saw it was Bernard’s birth certificate.

“Yeah, I was born in Gyeonggi-do.” Bernard explained, trying to look nonchalant, but biting his lips anxiously.

“Byun Baekhyun.” Chanyeol read. “Your birth name is Baekhyun.” Bernard nodded.

“That’s a really pretty sounding name, dude!” Chen exclaimed, smiling.

“Yeah, well, I’ve always been Bernard, so I forget about my other name.”

Chanyeol noticed the awkwardness rolling off Bernard’s body, and quickly ushered everyone to eat.

—————————–

Bernard really couldn’t remember a single memory in which someone called him Baekhyun.

Ever since he was 8 months old, his name had always been Bernard, and he had simply ignored the other one, but he didn’t have anything against the name Baekhyun, and thinking about it, maybe Heechul hyung was right. Maybe he should just use his Korean name while he was living in Korea.

“Chen,” he got a hum as an answer. “What do you think about me using my Korean name?”

“I think, and I’ve already told you this, your Korean name is gorgeous, and I really, really like it. Besides, you’re you, doesn’t matter if your name is Bernard of Baekhyun.”

—————————-

“Hey Chanyeol!”

_“Hey Bernard!”_

“Baekhyun.” Chanyeol stilled.

“What?”

“I’m going by Byun Baekhyun from now on.”

_“Well, nice to meet you, Byun Baekhyun.”_

Thing I did and never thought I would #4: Change my name.


	5. Of Hands and Departing Trains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Wow that was smooth as fuck, Byun Baekhyun, I can’t wait to tell Jongdae.”
> 
> “Chanyeol, shut up, or else…”
> 
> Or
> 
> Baekhyun and Chanyeol almost miss their train.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another one to make up for the long wait.   
> Hope you like it!   
> ps, follow me on Twitter, @k1mheechu1, where I spend my time procrastinating, fangirling and having anxiety attacks over uni =)

 

Chanyeol was half asleep, head falling forward as he waited patiently.

With his head resting on the taller’s lap, Baekhyun slept soundly.

So much snow had fallen, so much snow was still falling. Too much, in fact, as it had covered train tracks so severely, all trains were delayed, and the pair had been in the train station for three hours already, waiting for their train to departure.

Chanyeol shook his head, trying to wake himself up. They had gone to Busan for a big convert that they hadn’t been able to get tickets for in Seoul, so they had been ecstatic when they managed to snatch two tickets for the Busan stop.

Winter that year was being harsh. It wasn’t even close to Christmas, but a polar cold wave was covering the whole Korean peninsula, rendering heating in the big train station almost useless, and making their three hour wait so much more unpleasant than it would’ve been in normal weather conditions.

Baekhyun snuggled closer to his hear, and Chanyeol bit his lip to stop himself from smiling like a fool. He brushed the boy’s hair off his forehead gently, and Baekhyun sighed contently.

“Baek…” Chanyeol caressed his nose, making it twitch and scrunch up, eyes still closed. “C’mon, Baek, the train will be leaving soon.” Baekhyun whined, but opened his eyes. “ _Hello there, cutie!_ ”

“ _Hi Giant. What’s that about the train?”_  Chanyeol repressed yet another smile. He always found just-woken-up Baekhyun, eyes crinkly, voice soft, brain not fully functioning enough to be able to speak anything other than English, so so adorable.

_“Our train is leaving in a little bit, so we should start heading towards the platform”_

_“Remind me again why we didn’t choose to fly back and instead got two train tickets?”_

_“We’re two broke Uni students._ ” Baekhyun nodded and tiredly stood up.

“Last call for all passengers leaving on the 4.45 train to Seoul.” The voice in the intercom called. Bout their eyes widened, and they quickly grabbed all their belongings, starting to run. “Last call for all passengers leaving on the 4.45 train to Seoul. Please head to platform 15. Thank you.”

They rushed through the crowd, foregoing mechanical stairs together and rushing up the regular stairs two steps at a time.

“Hey! You punks!” An older man screamed when they almost knocked him over.

 _“Sorry! So sorry! We’re missing our train!”_  Baekhyun yelled as Chanyeol arrived in front of the train door and pressed the button to open it, sighing in relief when it actually did open, and standing in the middle to stop the doors from closing, and Baekhyun run the last couple of metres, collapsing inside as soon as he jumped in.

The door closed behind them, and the train started going. They stared at each other.

 _“Well, that was close.”_  Chanyeol said.

_“You tell me. My anxiety levels are off the roof, but I think my brain is still asleep.”_

Chanyeol grinned at Baekhyun and took his hand, guiding him to their seats.

_“Well, go back to sleep, I’ll wake you up when we get to Seoul, and maybe by then, you’ll remember how to speak Korean.”_

_“Shut up, you oversized puppy, and hold something for me while I sleep.”_

_“Sure.”_  Chanyeol grabbed what was being offered to him, and only a couple of minutes later he frowned at Baekhyun.  _“Baek, that’s your hand.”_

_“I know.”_

_“Wow that was smooth as fuck, Byun Baekhyun, I can’t wait to tell Jongdae.”_

_“Chanyeol, shut up and sleep, or else…”_

Thing I did and never thought I would #5: Board a departing train last minute. 

 


	6. Of Smells and loving you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Now, act normal. “ Baekhyun snorted. “Shut up. Act normal. And let’s get outta here.”
> 
> Or
> 
> Chanyeol’s idea actually works.  
> Well, kind of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another extremely short one today and then we'll get back on track!   
> I promise, chapters will start getting longer further on (next chapter is far longer than the previous ones, even if not as long as some further down the road)  
> As always, follow me on twitter @k1mheechu1 for your daily dose of failure, akwardness and fangirling.

“Are you sure we’re allowed to do this?” Baekhyun asked, and Chanyeol shrugged.

“No idea, but I’m doing it anyway.”

They both walked down the aisles inside the huge department store, and Chanyeol pulled at the shorter’s arm when he found what he was looking for.He took the lid off the first perfume on the row, and sprayed both himself and Baekhyun once before moving to the next one, and doing the exact same thing.

Baekhyun used his mouth to breathe, as Chanyeol made sure to spray them both with every perfume inside the store

“Now, act normal.” Baekhyun snorted. “Shut up. Act normal. And let’s get outta here.”

To Baekhyun’s amazement, no one stopped them from walking out the store, and they collapsed on a bench, a couple blocks away from the store.

“See, I’m so clever, you should kiss me as a reward.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, leaning in, and taking a deep breath, only to dissolve in a fit of giggles.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Chan, I really want to kiss you, but you smell awful. Let’s go home and shower.”

“Sweet.”

“Shower alone, Chanyeol. Shower first, kissing later. You can shower first and go back to smelling like a human being.”

“Spoilsport.“

Thing I did and never thought I would #7: Trying on every single perfume in a store.


	7. Of Trails and Mean Older Hyungs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That’s favouritism!”  
> “Of course it’s favouritism, he’s my boyfriend and you’re not, Park Chanyeol. Shut up and Walk.”
> 
> Or
> 
> Ten idiots go hiking, Minseok considers murder and Kyungsoo shouldn’t be trusted with a map.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter up. Hope you like it!   
> As always, you can find me on twitter @k1mheechu1 to talk about the meaning of life, Baehyun's adorableness or Yuzuru Hanyu because that's apparently something I do now.

 

Baekhyun could hear Jongin and Sehun’s whines as they walked up the steep hill.

“Kyungsoo hyung, why can’t you read the map? We’ve been walking for like, ten hours already.” Jongin’s voice said, sounding pitiful.

“My feet are about to fall off, hyung!” Sehun sobbed, draping himself over Junmyeon, who almost collapsed under his weight, rolling his eyes at his over dramatic boyfriend.

“Sehun, it’s physically impossible for your feet to fall off, please kindly remove yourself from my back. Jongin, we’ve only been walking for about 30 minutes, stop being a drama queen, Kyungsoo, and give me the map. It’s clear that as a tour guide, you’re a great culinary student. “Kyungsoo glared at him, but still have him the map. Junmyeon took it, and stretched his hand to hand it over to someone, but had to pull it back on the last second, to avoid Taemin from getting it in his grasp. “No, don’t even think about it. Jongin, control your boyfriend before he gets us even more lost.”

“Hyung! I’m not that bad.” Taemin protested.

“Taemin, go to the back and stay there. Or do I need to talk about Switzerland gate?”

Taemin pouted, but went to stand next to Jongin, who patted his back in sympathy.

“What’s Switzerland Gate?” Baekhyun asked in a whisper.

“Taemin went to a three month long dance program in Switzerland in 2012, and barely avoided becoming a missing child. In 90 days, he got lost 93 times.” Chen answered.

Junmyeon turned around, Sehun still draped all over his back.

“Hyung, you’re the only one with enough common sense here. You guide.”

Minseok silently took the map, stared at it for a little while and nodded, folding it neatly.

“See that mountain?” He pointed at a talk snowy, completely white peek. Everyone nodded. “That’s the glacier, the last trail in the whole national park. Turn around.” Everyone followed the order. “See that valley to your right?” Once again, everyone nodded. “That’s where the hidden lake is. 25 minutes ago there were two roads, we took a right, but we should’ve go left. We’ve been walking the other way all along. Now, follow me. And the next one that whines isn’t going to back, and I’m leaving him alone in the middle of the forest. “Yixing whimpered in fear, and Minseok went to him, and caressed his cheek. “Not you, Xiao Xing. You can whine all you want.”

“That’s favouritism!” Chanyeol protested.

“Of course it’s favouritism, he’s my boyfriend and you’re not, Park Chanyeol. Shut up and Walk.”

Everyone started marching, quietly following Minseok like little ducklings, leaving Baekhyun behind, watching them walk with a fond smile.

“Those weirdos are my friends” He quietly muttered. “I have awesome friends.”

“BYUN BAEKHYUN!” Minseok’s voice sounded from the front of the group. “START WALKING THIS INSTANT OR I’M ABANDONING YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS NATIONAL PARK FOR BEARS TO FEAST ON YOUR FLESH!”

Baekhyun quickly run to the group, hiding behind Chanyeol’s back.

He knew Minseok would probably do what he said if tested, and today was not the day he would become bear snack.

Thing I did and never thought I would #8: Take the wrong turn.


	8. Of Glaciers and Kimbap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "That is blackmail.”  
> “But it’s useful blackmail.”
> 
> Or
> 
> The things Chanyeol will do for Baekhyun and some food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter today.  
> I'm trying to get over all the short chapters quickly to get to the more-plot dense chapters, because god knows I wrote too many short, fillerish chapters before changing the story format.  
> Anyways, here you go.

 

“Baek, are you sure you want to do this? Why don’t we go fishing with the rest? That’s only a five minute walk from the camping site.”

“ _Park Chanyeol, if you want to go fishing, please do so, you absolutely can. No one is forcing you to come with me. But I’m going to the glacier, with or without you._ ”

Baekhyun started walking down the path, and soon, he smiled as he heard loud footsteps.

“Baek, don’t walk so fast”

“You have long legs, Chanyeol.”

“Yeah, but the longest distance I have walked in ten years was yesterday’s hike, so I’m basically dying.”

Baekhyun turned around, and suddenly found himself tangled inside the other’s limbs, being hugged to death.

“ _Park Chanyeol, you’re lucky I love you_.”

 _“I know, I remind myself of that fact every single day._ ”

“ _Stop being cheesy, let go of me and start walking. It’s a two and a half hour hike to the top._ ”

——————

“Baek, this is too steep. There’s no way a normal human being can climb this.” Chanyeol pouted.

“ _Then, explain the fact that I’m already standing all the way over here, Yeol.”_

_“You’re not a normal human being, Byun Baekhyun. You’re probable a British extra-terrestrial werewolf superhero or something along those lines.”_

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, and took of his bag, fishing a plastic container from the main compartment.

“ _Look at what I have, Chanyeol._ ” He offered the container.

“KIMBAP!”

“ _Yes, Kimbap. And it’s aaaaall the way over here, so I guess I’ll have to eat it all by myself, because there’s no one to share it with up here._ ” Chanyeol buffed.

“ _That is blackmail._ ”

He still climbed up.

“ _But it’s useful blackmail._ ”

—————–

“This is so beautiful, I can’t understand how the others complained and went fishing instead! Everything is so pretty! And we aren’t even at the top yet!” Chanyeol smiled, taking five hundred pictures as he talked.

Baekhyun just sighed in defeat.

——————

The glacier stood about 50 metres from the panoramic spot, and they weren’t able to get any closer for safety reasons, a ranger posted in the place had told them.

It didn’t matter, it was still absolutely gorgeous.

Baekhyun couldn’t stop smiling, taking in the sight and snapping pictures to send to his family.

“It’s so beautiful, Yeol!”

“Yes.” Baekhyun turned around, and realised Chanyeol was staring at him, instead of the glacier. “You are.”

“ _Stop being cheesy, dammit_!”

——————

They ate the rest of their Kimbap, and drank some water, filling their bottles with water from a fresh spring, and Baekhyun stood up first, pulling Chanyeol up.

He started walking, and heard Chanyeol gasp.

“ _Fuck me, I just remembered we have another two and a half hours of hiking._ ”

Baekhyun couldn’t stop laughing for about five minutes after seeing the true despair on Chanyeol’s face.

Thing I did and never thought I would #9: See a glacier up close.


	9. Of Giants and Rainy Afternoons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m praying the gods smile at me, and stop the rain, because I don’t feel like walking home under the rain, getting completely soaked and catching pneumonia.”
> 
> “Baek, you’re agnostic.”
> 
> Or
> 
> Chanyeol is a good boyfriend and walks Baekhyun home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be chapter 6... Oops?   
> Oh well, lucky my story isn't chronological for the most part, huh?

 

The afternoon class was starting to feel like it would never end. It was the week before midterm, so the professor was going on and on about some theory they probably should try to listen to, but the entire class was barely listening, too concerned about the fact there where only three minutes left until the weekend began. Even Baekhyun, studious, nerdy Baekhyun was staring at the clock, willing it to go faster.

When the class finally finished, everyone basically run out, both from excitement and because that professor was famous for assigning homework if the students stayed loitering inside the classroom.

Baekhyun headed downstairs, frowning when he saw it was raining outside. It had been sunny when he left the apartment that morning, so he had no umbrella with him.

Something nudged his side, making him jump.

 _“Whatcha doing?”_  Chanyeol asked, leaning onto the wall, twirling his umbrella.

_“You absolute idiot, you almost gave me a heart attack!”_

“Hi Chanyeol, good afternoon Chanyeol, I’m doing great, Chanyeol, even better now I’ve seen your handsome face.” The taller one said, making Baekhyun roll his eyes.

“I’m praying the gods smile at me, and stop the rain, because I don’t feel like walking home under the rain, getting completely soaked and catching pneumonia.”

“Baek, you’re agnostic.”

“There’s always a first time for everything! What do you know? Maybe today I’ll find my call, and discover I’m destined for a life of divine enlightment.”

“Or, you could get under my umbrella and let me walk you home.”

“Yeah, that seems like a better idea, to be honest.”

And so, Baekhyun grabbed Chanyeol’s arm, allowing the other boy to pull him close, covering his body with the newly opened umbrella.They got to the underground station just fine, sitting closely for the five stops long journey, and exiting quickly when they arrived to their station.

Baekhyun didn’t feel guilty for getting Chanyeol to walk him home, for three main reasons:

               Exhibit A: Chanyeol was his boyfriend.

               Exhibit B: Chanyeol HAD to walk past his apartment building to get home, which was a further ten blocks away from Baekhyun’s.

               Exhibit C: Chanyeol had offered, and who was him to say no… plus, he didn’t want to get wet.   

Well, get wet they did.One block away from the apartment building, the wind suddenly intensified, making it hard for Chanyeol to stabilise the umbrella.The wind abruptly changed directions, blowing from behind them, and Chanyeol started being dragged by it, dragging Baekhyun along.

 _“Chanyeol, let the thing go!”_  Baekhyun yelled, trying his hardest to keep up with the pace.

 _“But Baek, my umbrella!”_  Chanyeol whined.

“ _We’re going to end up smashed against something if this goes on!”_

“Okay, on the count of three! One, two… THREE!” And Chanyeol let go of the handle, both of them following the umbrella with their eyes, watching the wind carry the object out of their sight.

They both stared at each other, and started laughing. Baekhyun took Chanyeol’s hand and started running.

“ _C’mon giant, run! We’re getting soaked_!” 

 

Chen was not happy when he got home to find two snuggled up puppies and wet floors waiting for him to mop.

 

Thing I did and never thought I would #6: Have the wind steal my umbrella.


	10. Of Zombies and Peace Offerings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Wow that was close. I think my whole life flashed in front of my eyes.”
> 
> Or
> 
> Chanbaek does not function properly before midday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter for today, and we're back to the original lineup, if I manage not to post the wrong chapter again.  
> Is anyone even reading this?? Can you please comment?? (Is it too pretentious to beg for comments? I know, if you comment, you can drop your favourite pairing and plot and I'll write a oneshot for them!! )  
> Anyways, find me on Twitter @k1mheechu1 , where I allow my anxiety to run over my life and reblog exo vids because why not.

 

Baekhyun stretched his arms up, moaning as he cursed himself for leaving the blinds open the night before, as the cause of him being awake was the sunlight currently hitting his face. He groggily got up, tugging them closed, before sighing, and heading to the living room.

“Hello, Byun Baekhyun.” Baekhyun jumped from the shock, looking around to find Chen sitting on the countertop, sipping on a cup of coffee. “You look particularly zombie-like in this fine day.”

_“Fuck you, Kim Jongdae. You’re way too fucking chirpy and bright for God knows how early in the morning.”_

“It’s 11, Baekhyun.”

“ _It’s too fucking early, Chen. What are you even doing up?_ ” He asked, making his way to the sofa and face planting on a pillow, quite ungracefully.

“I have a date. And you’ll be glad you’re up, because my date comes bearing a present for you.” Baekhyun groaned in response.

He was pretty sure he fell back asleep for a couple of minutes, but the ringing of the doorbell woke him up.

“I barely managed to drag him here without anyone running him over.” Baekhyun opened one eye, and smiled sleepily when he saw Kyungsoo was dragging an equally as sleepy Chanyeol by the arm, Chanyeol basically crushing Kyungsoo as he rested all of his weight on Kyungsoo’s back. “Seriously Chanyeol, what are you, like, five?”

“Yeah, five heads taller than you.” Everyone froze, even Chanyeol, realising what he had just said, and to whom he had said it. “I’M SO SORRY! SOO, I’M SO SORRY! PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!” Kyungsoo glared, taking a step towards the taller. “Here, take my peace offer!” He quickly run behind Chen, and pushed him forward. “Don’t come back too early! Enjoy your day! Goodbye!”

Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s hand and pulled the other by it, entering his room and quickly locking the door behind himself.

“Wow that was close. I think my whole life flashed in front of my eyes.” Baekhyun hit him with a pillow.

“ _Are you insane!? Do you have a death wish!?” Are you trying to make me a widow even before we get married!?”_ Baekhyun accentuated every word with a hit.

“Baek! Stop! I’ve learned my lesson!”

He tugged the pillow away from Baekhyun’s hands, throwing it away and tackling Baekhyun onto the bed.

The shorter one didn’t fight him, simply fixing their position, tucking his nose into Chanyeol’s neck.

_“Let’s stay like this the entire day, okay?”_

“Mmmh.” Chanyeol hummed, kissing his boyfriend’s forehead.

Chen and Kyungsoo found the two of them in that exact same position, limbs tangled and breathing slow, takeaway pizza boxes scattered all around them.

Thing I did and never thought I would #10: Not do anything for a whole day.


	11. Of Amusement Parks and Puppy Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Chanyeol. Please tell me that huge thing isn’t where we’re heading, please.”
> 
> “Uhhh…”
> 
> “Oh god. We aren’t. I did not sign up for this.”
> 
> Or
> 
> The gang goes to Everland.

The park was relatively empty for a summer day. Everyone was really excited, except for Jongin, who was still pouty about the fact Taemin hadn’t been able to come with them, because his friends had organised a late birthday party for him.

Chen was guiding the group, excited like a little child, dragging a defeated Kyungsoo by the arm, and the rest walked leisurely behind them, laughing at Kyungsoo’s face.

Baekhyun was hanging from Chanyeol’s arm. They hadn’t been dating for too long, but he made him feel safe, and he knew he could just tell him when the Korean around him started to become too much, and he needed an “English Break”, as the rest of the boys had dubbed the moments.

The group stopped once they reached a big open space, and they gattered in a circle.

“Okay so, what do we do first?” Minseok asked, grabbing Yixing by the shirt to stop him, as he hadn’t realised the group was no longer walking.

“I say we go to the T-Express first, before the line gets longer” Junmyeon said, and everyone agreed. “Once that’s done, we can decide what to do next.”

The group started walking again, and Baekhyun allowed himself to be taken without a word.

His eyes widened when he saw where they were actually heading.

“Chanyeol.” The taller looked down, feeling the tug on his arm. “Please tell me that huge thing isn’t where we’re heading, please.”

“Uhhh…”

“ _Oh god. We aren’t. I did not sign up for this._ ”

“Well, you kind of did, Baek. You agreed to come to Everland with the group.”

“I’ll be waiting over here. You go up, and then tell me all about it.”

He tried to walk away from the line, but two pairs of hands grabbed him before he could escape.

“Hyung! You can’t come to Everland and not ride the T-Express!” Sehun said, pouting.

“Yes, hyung! It’s a rite of passage!” Jongin seconded, and pouted as well.

Baekhyun couldn’t believe those puppy eyes had so much power until he found himself three steps away from the door that separated him from the ride.

“I would like to make it clear that you, guys” He pointed at the maknaes. “Are forcing me onto this rollercoaster, against my will, and if I fall off and die, I have a perfectly plausible reason to come back from my lovely home in heaven and haunt your arses into insanity. “Sehun and Jongin gulped and nodded.

Chanyeol grabbed his hand tightly, stopping him from running away in panic as the doors opened.

Before Baekhyun could say stop, he was being strapped, the ride almost about to start and he suddenly started having trouble breathing normally. A warm hand grabbed his as the ride started moving, Chanyeol squeezing his fingers, trying to calm down.

The entire ride then became a blur to Baekhyun, who screamed his head off, and squeezed his eyes shut tightly, bout could still feel the jerk and pull of gravity when the cart took another curve or quick dip.

Fortunately, the ride was over quite quickly… well, for those fortunate people that weren’t scared, because for Baekhyun it had lasted well over a century.

They all rushed out, laughing and talking loudly.

Baekhyun stumbled along, gaze fixed on the floor. Chanyeol stopped him, using a finger to tilt his head up, and became concerned when he saw Baekhyun’s face covered in tears, white as a ghost, as he tried to hold back his sobs.

“Oh, Hyunnie.” Those words were the only thing that took for the waterworks to intensify, and Baekhyun quickly buried his face in the soft material of his boyfriend’s shirt.

He could hear Minseok and Junmyeon scolding Jongin and Sehun.

He was never again going to fall for the freaking puppy eyes.

Never again.

Thing I did and never thought I would #11: Ride a rollercoaster.


	12. Of Pink Hair and New Styles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I would love to have hair like that”
> 
> Or
> 
> Baekhyun sees pink hair, and Baekhyun wants pink hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Featuring Kang Daniel and some NU’EST because I can)

 

“I would love to have hair like that” Baekhyun sighed, looked out of the Café’s window. Minseok looked up from his notes.

“Like what?” Baekhyun pointed at one tall boy with bright pink hair. “Oh, I know that kid! That’s Kang Daniel, He lives two doors down the corridor from Xing and me.”

“It looks so pretty! And it doesn’t look damaged at all! That must be one really skilled hairdresser.”

“He’s coming this way, I can ask him about his hairdresser if you want.” Before Baekhyun could stop him, Minseok was already waving the boy over.

“Minseok Hyung! Hi! “The tall boy smiled, eyes disappearing.

“Hi Daniel! How’s it going?”

“Great! I’m picking up coffee and pastries to go as am apology present for Seongwoo Hyung, this is the third time I’ll be late for our study session this week.”

“I’ll be quick then. My friend Baekhyun here is wondering who the genius behind your hairstyle is, and whether you could refer him to them.” Daniel bowed to Baekhyun.

“Hello! Yes! Minhyun hyung, my roommate has a friend well, he’s my friend as well, but Minhyun hyung was known him for longer, actually he’s the one who introduced us so…”

“Daniel, you’re rambling.” Interrupted Minseok with an amused smile.

“Right, sorry! Well anyway, his name is Choi Minki, and he opened his salon after getting his license last year. Minki hyung was been handling my hair ever since.” Daniel finally took a breath. Baekhyun was actually quite concerned for the kid. How can someone talk so much and breathe so little? “I can give you the salon name and phone number. Call him and say Kang Daniel sends you, and he’ll schedule you right away. If not, I think the waiting list is like, two months long or something.” Baekhyun could totally believe that, if the other’s hair was anything to go by, this Choi Minki was really good.

“Thanks Daniel!” Minseok said, and the kid smiled again,

“No problem, hyung!! I really need to get going now, before I get murdered by Seongwoo hyung! It was nice to meet you, Baekhyun-ssi!” And the boy banished.

Baekhyun turned to look at Minseok.

“Yes, I know, weird kid. But he’s nice and catsits for us, so you learn to get used to him.”

—————

Baekhyun opened the door to the shop and was quickly it with the loud buzzing of a hair dryer.

“Hello, welcome to NU’EST salon. May I help you?” A sleepy looking guy asked, half leaning on a table.

“Hello, yes! I called yesterday and was told to come in today? My name is Byun Baekhyun?”

Sleepy-looking-guy took a look at a notebook, and nodded. Then, he yelled.

“MINKI!” Baekhyun jumped, caught by surprise.

“WHAT!?” A voice answered from the back, hair dryer stopping.

“YOUR AFTERNOON CLIENT IS HERE!”

“THAT’S GREAT!” A think, delicate looking guy stepped out, bright blonde hair perfectly coiffed up. “Hello! My name is Choi Minki, and I’ll be working my magic on your hair today!”

“Nice to meet you, Minki-ssi. My name is Byun Baekhyun.”

“Come, take a seat, and we’ll talk about what we’re doing today.” Minki then turned around. “Aron Hyung.” Sleepy-looking-guy –now, Baekhyun learned, was called Aron- didn’t look up. “Aron Hyung.” Nothing. “KWAK ARON!” He jumped up confusedly, looking at Minki. “Go to the back and work, the towels won’t wash themselves.” Aron left, muttering in English about mean boyfriends and stupid towels under his breath.

“So, what do you have in mind? Daniel said you liked his hair”

“Yes! But maybe something a little bit more subdued? Maybe lighter?”

“How about pastel pink? I’ll make it look delicate, and it’ll be easier to fade if you want to try other colours in the future.” Baekhyun nodded. “Great. So, this is what we’ll do: First, I’ll bleach your hair once, see how light it gets. Since this is virgin hair, I think we’ll get it pretty light with the first bleaching process. Then, we’ll adjust the volume of the developer depending on how your hair is doing and how much more lighter we need it to go. For pastels, we need it to be pretty much white.” Baekhyun gulped.” After that, I’ll use a grey/purple toner to get the brassiness and yellow pigments still in the hair, and then we’ll dry it and apply the final colour. Sounds good?”

Baekhyun took a deep breath and nodded.

“I trust you.”

———————

“Hi Baek! Chanyeol is waiting in your room, he fell asleep a while ag… HOLY SHIT!” Chen dropped his phone, gaping. “Your hair!”

Baekhyun run a hand through his fringe.

_“Is it that bad?”_

_“It’s amazing!_ Seriously! It’ll take me a little while to get used to, because I’ve only ever seen you with dark hair, but it looks nice.”

Baekhyun smiled, and headed towards his room, opening and closing the door gently.

“Chan” He gently called, smiling when he saw his boyfriend sleeping in starfish position on his bed. “Chanyeol”

“Hyunnie” Chanyeol said, smiling and opening his eyes a sliver, only to open them widely abruptly, sitting up on the bed, gaping and without words. “Your hair!” Chanyeol quickly got up, walking towards Baekhyun. “It’s pink” He caressed the top, running his fingers through the strands. “So soft.”

“The stylist is mad talented. _Do you like it?_ ”

_“I love it. It’s so you.”_

Baekhyun sighed in relief, burying his face in Chanyeol’s shirt, the taller’s arms quickly enveloping him. They stayed that way for a few seconds before Baekhyun got tense.

_“What’s wrong?”_

_“I never told my mum, to allow her to get mentally prepared.”_

_“And?”_

_“She’s going to kill me when we skype and she realises my hair is pink._ ”

Thing I did and never thought I would #12: Dye my hair.


	13. Of Temperatures and Caring Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Is he alive?” 
> 
> “I think so. Yes, still alive.”
> 
> Or
> 
> Baekhyun gets ill and tells no one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (VIXX Cameo, because it’s my story and I can =P)

“Is he alive?” He heard Jaehwan, one of his classmates ask Minseok.

“I think so.” A pencil poked his cheek, and he groaned, batting it away with one hand. “Yes, still alive.”

“Shouldn’t you be in class?”

“He collapsed in the middle of our History of Arts class, that’s the reason we are sitting here. I called reinforcements. He’s light enough I could carry him here, but we’re the same height, so there’s no way I’ll be able to carry him down two flight s of stairs to the parking lot.”

“Do you want me to call Taekwoon? I’m pretty sure he’s got a free period right now.”

“Thanks Jaehwan, but I can see the saviour arriving.”

Footsteps sounded loudly down the corridor, and Baekhyun groaned, eyes still closed. The noise only worsened the pounding in his head.

“What happened to him?” He recognised Chanyeol’s voice asking softly.

“He has a temperature, told no one he was ill, and then went and collapsed in class. I already took him to the nurse, she said it’s most likely a really bad case of the flu. He’ll probably be fine with over-the-counter medicine, as long as his temperature doesn’t go over 40°C. If it does, we need to rush him to the hospital.”

“You can call Hakyeon hyung if he gets that bad. He’s a resident in the university hospital, let him know you’re rushing in, and he’ll have someone waiting.”

“Thanks Jaehwannie, we’ll take him home now.”

“Good luck! And let me know how he’s doing.”

Careful hands enveloped Baekhyun’s arms, and he whined.

“Hey, Hyunnie. It’s just me, love.” He heard Chanyeol softly say. “I have to pick you up so we can take you home.” He whimpered again. “I know, love. But hold on for a little longer, and you’ll be in a quiet, dark place.” Chanyeol picked his body up bridal style, and Baekhyun controlled the urge to throw up that came with the movement. After that, the whole world went fuzzy, and he passed out for the second time that morning.

————————–

“What’s his temperature?”

“39, 9°C. It’s not coming down. What do we do?”

“Let’s try the ice bath, and hope it breaks, or we’ll have to take him to the hospital.”

—————-

Baekhyun woke up abruptly, feeling as if thousands of needles where stuck in his skin, and he started crying, trying to escape.

“Baek, don’t move! We need to get you cooler!” He couldn’t understand what the person holding him down was saying, he just needed out of the water. “Baekhyun!”

_“HURTS! HURTS! LET ME OUT! HURTS! PLEASE, LET ME OUT!”_

“CHANYEOL, COME HERE!” Rushed footsteps were heard. “He’s freaking out, and I don’t think he can understand Korean right now!”

 _“BERNARD!_ ” Chanyeol got inside the bathtub, clothes on and everything, grabbing Baekhyun’s body to stop his trashing, and Baekhyun opened his teary eyes to look at the other at the mention of his name.  _“Stop moving! You need to stay here with me for a little while, only a little while and I’ll get you out.”_

 _“Chan!”_  He sobbed, breaking Chanyeol’s heart.  _“Hurts!”_

_“I know love, but please wait a little bit.”_

Baekhyun’s sobs escalated in volume, and an eternity later he felt his body being transferred into other arms, out of the ice water and onto soft towels. He was once again deposited in the warm arms he knew so well, and he buried his face on Chanyeol’s neck, still sobbing.

“Jongdae, what’s his temperature?”

“39°C, it went down a bit.”

“Okay, tell Minseok Hyung and Yixing Hyung to hurry up with the medicine. I’ll get him to bed. And tell Kyungsoo to have something ready for him to eat, so he can take whatever they bring.”

He felt his body being laid back onto his soft mattress, and he lost consciousness once more.

————–

The next time Baekhyun woke up, he was freezing, but also so so hot at the same time.

He looked around. The door to his room was opened, and he could see Chen sleeping on the couch, Kyungsoo laying on top of him in a position that looked in no way comfortable, and Minseok sleeping in a mattress on the floor.

Soft snores to his right made him realise Yixing was also there, a once damp towel still in his grasp as he slept sitting on a chair.

 _“Hey.”_  A voice whispered, and he turned his head to find Chanyeol coming into the room.

_“Hi.”_

_“You’re finally awake.”_ Chanyeol brushed his damp fringe away from his forehead. “ _You gave us quite the scare. You’ve been in and out of consciousness for two days.”_

 _“I’m sorry.”_  He pouted, as Chanyeol used an in-ear-thermometer on him. He waited for the device to beep before lifting it up to his face, and sighing in relief.

_“38°C. It’s the lowest temperature we’ve managed to get you at so far. Are you okay?”_

_“My brain is fuzzy. And I don’t think I can talk anything that isn’t English right now.”_

_“It’s okay, everyone was too concerned about you to expect anything. They’ll just be glad you’re finally awake.”_

Baekhyun looked around once again.

 _“Thank you, all of you, for taking care of me. You didn’t need to._ ”

_“Yeah, well, we love you. We weren’t about to let you die alone because of a measly flu.”_

Baekhyun smiled.

Thing I did and never thought I would #13: Have someone take care of me while I’m ill.

 


	14. Of Dreams and Lighthouses, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You think a military constructed building meant to tell people ‘Hey, fuck off, don’t come near, there’s land and shit and you’ll wreck your ship if you come too close’ is romantic.”
> 
> Or
> 
> Baekhyun loves lighthouses.

“What is it with you and lighthouses, Baekhyun?”

“I just like them, Chan. The idea of a lighthouse is so romantic.”

“You think a military constructed building meant to tell people ‘Hey, fuck off, don’t come near, there’s land and shit and you’ll wreck your ship if you come too close’ is romantic.” Chanyeol got hit. “OUCH! Okay, okay, I’m shutting up.”

“That’s better. Now, we have about one kilometre until we reach the shoreline, or that’s what the ranger said, at least, _so shut up and walk._  I want to head back before sunset, or we won’t find our way out and will probably be eaten by sea lions or something.”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes at the dramatism, but followed the pink haired one anyway.

The dessert they had driven through to get to their starting point had given way to open fields covered in green grass, blue skies bright and clear over their heads, and the more they walked, the more they could smell the salty sea air, and hear the waves crashing on the shore.

“ _THERE IT IS!_ ” Baekhyun yelled, jumping up and down a few times in excitement, and running towards the red building that had appeared about two hundred metres to their right.

Chanyeol felt a rush of endearment at Baekhyun’s reaction, following him.

_“LOOK AT IT!”_

The tall building was obviously abandoned, but still held an air of greatness around it. The crystals on the top windows were all gone, though, and the door had a huge padlock to stop people from entering.

“It’s so sad it’s not working, I’ve always wanted to see a working lighthouse from the inside.”

“I promise you” Chanyeol started, wrapping his arms around Baekhyun’s shoulder, the other quickly leaning onto his body. “I’ll take you to the top of a working lighthouse, so you can make your dream come true.”

Baekhyun smiled, and got on his tiptoes to peck Chanyeol gently.

“I know you will, giant. And it’ll be even more special because you’ll be there with me.”

Thing I did and never thought I would #14: See a lighthouse up close.


	15. Of Being an Adult and Late Nights… or Early Mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I know, but while I might legally be an adult, don’t be fooled, I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.”
> 
> “I realised, when you tried to buy 50 pairs of light up shoes.”
> 
> “They were on sale!”
> 
> Or
> 
> The best conversations always happen at 5 AM.

_“I know, but while I might legally be an adult, don’t be fooled, I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.”_

_“I realised, when you tried to buy 50 pairs of light up shoes.”_

_“They were on sale!”_

_“Chanyeol that would’ve used up all of your rent money.”_

_“I never claimed to be smart!”_

_“You play the part incredibly well.”_

Baekhyun was laying on his back on the bed, phone in loudspeaker. He turned the screen back on.

_“It’s 5 AM. We’ve officially been on the phone for 7 hours.”_

_“My mum is going to kill me when the phone bill arrives.”_

Baekhyun and Chanyeol chuckled in unison.

_“It’ll have been worth it.”_

Baekhyun sighed.

 _“I’ve never stayed up the whole night speaking on the phone with someone.”_ He confessed.

 _“Me neither._ ” Chanyeol answered.

_“We should go to sleep.”_

_“We should.”_

Silence.

_“Hey, giant, want to meet me at the convenience store that’s halfway between your apartment and mine in ten minutes? I’m really craving some ramen.”_

_“Thought you’d never ask.”_

Thing I did and never thought I would #15: Stay up all night talking with someone.


	16. Of Stubborn Idiots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Fine. I’m sorry Chanyeol. I shouldn’t have told you you were stupid.”  
> Junmyeon smile. This was going great.  
> “I thought you already knew.”
> 
> Or
> 
> Baekhyun and Chanyeol fight.

All eight of their friends were staring.

Seeing the two fight wasn’t a common occurrence, after all, so they were all in shock.

Junmyeon took a step forward, but was stopped by Sehun grabbing his arm.

“Hyung, are you sure you want to get in the middle?”

“Someone needs to be the mediator, Hun. You know those two, they’re both stubborn, and no one is going to lower their head first.” Sehun still didn’t look too convinced, so Junmyeon kissed his jaw “You can avenge my death if they kill me.”

He took a deep breath and walked towards the other two. Everyone leaned forward.

“Right, so, let’s keep this simple.” Junmyeon said. “Baekhyun, you apologise first.”

The shortest of the couple buffed, but turned around.

“Fine. I’m sorry Chanyeol. I shouldn’t have told you you were stupid.” Junmyeon smile. This was going great. “I thought you already knew.” Baekhyun added.

“OH, FOR FUCK’S SAKE!” Minseok came forward. “Chanyeol, you’re an idiot. Baekhyun, you are also an idiot. And this fight is idiotic. Move. Go over there” He signalled to Baekhyun’s room. “And if you come out before you make up, you’re not going to like what’s coming to you.”

He grabbed both of them and pushed them inside the room, closing the door.

A few minutes of silence followed, before Chanyeol cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry. I’m sure it’s a European thing, and that’s why I don’t get it. I shouldn’t have said the Eurovision Song Contest was dumb.” Baekhyun turned around, and lay his head onto Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry too. I can’t expect you to understand something you’ve never seen. We okay?”

“We okay.” They both smiled.

The door opened a little bit, and Jongin’s head stuck inside, seeing them cuddled up together.

“THEY’RE FINE, CRISIS ADVERTED! TAEMIN, YOU OWE ME A THOUSAND WONS!”

“KIM JONGIN, I SWEAR TO GOD!”

Thing I did and never thought I would #16: Fight and make up.


	17. Of Stress Bakers And Pictures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s a win-win situation, really. He de-stresses, and I get free food”
> 
> Or
> 
> Baekhyun swears none of his friends are really sane.

Baekhyun pushed the 5th floor button, softly humming under his breath, and waited for the elevator to stop before going his merry way.

He said hello to Bora, the nice noona that lived a couple of doors away from Chanyeol and Kyungsoo’s apartment, punching the code and getting in, removing his shoes. He found Kyungsoo baking in the kitchen.

“Hi Soo!” Kyungsoo nodded in response.

“Hi Bernard Barnes!” A voice said from the couch, making Baekhyun jump.

“Kim Jongdae,  _Jesus Fucking Christ, warn a guy_! You almost gave me a heart attack! What are you even doing here?”

“Soo is stressed.”

“And that explains your presence because…”

“I’m here because when Do Kyungsoo gets stressed, he bakes. And when Kyungsoo stress-bakes, he bakes a lot. So I’m here as a supportive friend, to help him get rid of what he bakes. It’s a win-win situation, really. He de-stresses, and I get free food.”

Baekhyun hit him on the head, leaving both crazy friends alone, and entering Chanyeol’s room.

 _“So, this is your version of developing pictures_?” He asked, amused.

“ _Yeah. Sit. And when I’m done, we’ll start with homework.”_

Baekhyun shook his head, laying on his belly on the bed, watching Chanyeol using his black and white printer to “develop pictures.”

Thing I did and never thought I would #17: Learn to “develop pictures”.


	18. Of Dreams and Lighthouses, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I was the one that kidnapped him! He didn’t get scared, did you?”
> 
> “I’m not scared, just confused as fuck to be honest”
> 
> Or
> 
> Baekhyun gets kidnapped, but he’s more than happy with what’s waiting for him at the end.

To say Baekhyun was confused was an understatement. Chen had basically kidnapped him, forcing him to get changed, blindfolding him and forcing him out of the apartment, down to the pavement, and into a car.

He heard whispers as the car drove away, and he imagined Chen was talking to the driver.

After about five hours, he felt the car coming to a stop, and doors opening and closing. Then, someone removed his blindfold and he blinked, trying to get used to the light, coming face to face with a smiling Junmyeon.

“Myeon Hyung?” He asked, puzzled.

“Hi Baek! Sorry about the kidnapping, I was forced to help, but Jongdae didn’t listen to the part where we told him you were not supposed to get a heart attack.”

“I was the one that kidnapped him! He didn’t get scared, did you?”

“I’m not scared, just confused as fuck to be honest” The other two snickered.

“Well, you’ll be confused for a while still. Here, put these on.” Chen gave him a pair of noise cancelling headphones.

“Chen, I can hear Twice playing and I don’t even have them on yet.”

“Damn right you can. Now, put them on and enjoy the music, I’m getting your ears blessed.” Junmyeon rolled his eyes.

They guided him out of the car and through a rough patch of rocks covering a path, and then they walk through the forest for about twenty minutes before stopping, and making Baekhyun remove his headphones.

“Okay, so, this is as far as we go, now you go on alone.” Chen said, and Baekhyun’s eyes widened as the boy placed a bag in his arms.

“ _Wait, what? No, wait,_  you’re not leaving me alone in the middle of the forest, are you?”

“Don’t worry, your boyfriend is waiting for you at the end of the path.”

“HYUNG! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SURPRISE!”

“Kim Jongdae, he’s scared. I won’t allow any of my friends to be scared if I have the means to avoid it.”

“Whatever. Walk, the giant idiot you call boyfriend is waiting. You have only about 500 metres left.”

They waved, and headed back. Baekhyun took a deep breath, and started walking.

The tress got scarcer the further he walked, and he began hearing the sound of waves, which made him walk faster. He reached the end of the path and found Chanyeol standing there with a smile.

_“Was all that drama necessary?”_

Chanyeol laughed.

“Hey, tell me it wasn’t romantic.”

 _“It wasn’_ t. Jongdae is not exactly _cupid’s little helper_ , _he’s a freaking gangster in training_. What are we doing here anyways?”

“Well, right now, I have a picnic basket full of food and a nice tent waiting for us.”

“We’re sleeping out here? What is there to see here?”

“Nothing right now, but in a few hours, when it goes dark…” Chanyeol grabbed him by the shoulders, turning him around, and Baekhyun gasped.

There had been a lighthouse right behind him the whole time.

“Is it working?”

“Fully functional. And that’s not the best part. I called in a few favours and we’re allowed to go to the top while it’s on.”

Chanyeol almost fell on his back, as Baekhyun threw himself to hug him.

“ _Thank you, thank you, thank you!_ Have I ever told you how awesome you are?”

————————–

They had dinner (fried chicken, Kimbap and pizza, because apparently Kyungsoo was out of town, so Jongin had been tasked with the food preparation) sitting on top of a soft blanket on the floor, watching the seagulls fly over their heads, and hearing the roar of the ocean as it crashed, soaking the cliffs.

Chanyeol looked at his watch, nudging Baekhyun.

“It’s 8:29, look at that.”

Baekhyun looked up, gasping when he saw, at 8:30 on the dot, the lighthouse come to life.

“Wow” The light began really weak, but as it spun around, it started becoming more and more powerful. “So pretty.”

He started tearing up, so he choose to bury his face in Chanyeol’s neck, hugging him tightly.

_“Thank you so much.”_

————————————–

Baekhyun couldn’t stop giggling as he heard Chanyeol groaning.

“There’s far too many steps.”

“We’re almost there, keep climbing.”

And soon, they were standing right in front of the last few steps. Chanyeol’s friend had told him that they couldn’t go to the very top and stand in front of the light for safety reasons, but they could stop a couple of steps before they reached the trap door, were there was a small platform.

“This is the most romantic thing ever, giant.” Baekhyun said, leaning to hug his boyfriend, and climbing up one step to be on the same height.

“I’d do anything for you.”

The lighthouse’s light was the only witness to their kisses that night.

**Thing I did and never thought I would do #18: Stand at the top of a functioning lighthouse.**


	19. Of Bicycles and Concerned Boyfriends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Alright, I’m leaving before you call the MI6 to walk me home.”
> 
> Or
> 
> Chanyeol is far too concerned and Baekhyun likes the rain.

Looking out of the window, Baekhyun could see… well, he couldn’t see anything.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to give you a ride? Or, well, ask Junmyeon Hyung to give us a ride to your house? I don’t like the idea of you riding your bike back home”

“Relax, it’s ten blocks away, Chanyeol. Besides, it’s not so bad, it’s just a little fog” Chanyeol raised an eyebrow. “Okay, okay, a lot of fog, but it’s not so bad, and I’ll get home really fast.”

Baekhyun finished putting on his boots, zipped his jacket up, and stood on his tiptoes to kiss the taller one.

“Take care. I mean it.” Baekhyun nodded, opening the door. “If you get cold, stop and put your hat and scarf on, and if you don’t feel comfortable, give me a call and I’ll pick you up from wherever you are and take you home, and if not, call me as soon as you get home, and…”

“Alright, _I’m leaving before you call the MI6 to walk me home._ ” Baekhyun blew him a kiss and closed the door on his face.

He went down, grabbed his bicycle, and started making his way down a road he knew by heart.

Two minutes later, it began to rain.

He thanked the skies for Chen stealing his nice, new bag and giving him a crappy, ugly… but waterproof bag as a replacement, otherwise, he would’ve kissed his textbooks goodbye.

Smiling without a worry in the world, he pedalled without a hurry, enjoying the feeling of the water hitting his face.

He hummed a melody, thinking of how, if it were a musical, he’d have background music and a camera close-up by this point. He couldn’t stop himself from singing.

_**I’m singing in the rain, just singing in the rain…** _

A man walking a dog under a black umbrella laughed as he heard his song.

Baekhyun simply kept singing all the way back home.

(He may or may not had forgotten to tell his boyfriend he had arrived and opened the door to a soaking wet Chanyeol standing there at midnight. And he was the drama queen?)

**Thing I did and never thought I would do #19: Ride a bicycle under the rain**


	20. Of Thunderstorms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They spent hours in silence, simply staring out of the window
> 
> Or
> 
> Chanbaek loves storms.

“Yes Mum, I’ll call you. No, it’s okay, we’ll watch a movie on Hyun’s laptop until the battery runs out and then we’ll go to sleep. See you guys tomorrow.” Chanyeol ended the call and threw his mobile next to him on the couch. “Junmyeon Hyung says to unplug all electronics and to call him if we get scared, he’ll come and pick us up, the rest of the gang is already sleeping there anyways.”

Baekhyun giggled, cuddling closer to him in search of body heat, burying his face in Chanyeol’s shoulder, inhaling deeply.

“I don’t want to watch a movie.”

“Me neither.” Chanyeol answered.

Outside the window, they could see all kinds of lights brightening the night sky.

Baekhyun sat between Chanyeol’s legs, laying his back against Chanyeol’s chest. The taller one wrapped his arms around his body, caressing the other’s hands when they intertwined.

The sky kept lightning up every couple of seconds, lightning bolts drawing figures between the clouds, and rain falling like fat tears against the glass windows.

Thunders sounded far away, like music, a private melody meant only for the two of them.

They spent hours in silence, simply staring out of the window.

Suddenly, a thunder sounded a lot louder than what they had gotten used to and Chanyeol jumped in fear, startled by the sound. Baekhyun let out a laugh and kissed him softly when he pouted.

The storm lasted the entire night, the show finishing with the arrival of dawn.

They stayed up all night watching the storm, holding each other close.

**Thing I did and never thought I would #20: Enjoy a thunderstorm.**


	21. Of Insomnia and Lullabies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s 2:23 in the morning, Byun Baekhyun. What did I do to deserve this immense honour?”
> 
> “I can’t sleep.”
> 
> Or
> 
> Baekhyun’s boyfriend has the best voice ever.

Inhale. Exhale.

Eyes closed. Head resting on top of the pillow.

Inhale. Exhale.

Hug the Pooh plushie he was holding.

Inhale. Exhale.

_“C’mon, Bernard, you can do it.”_

Inhale. Exhale.

Almost there.

Inhale. Exhale.

_“Fuck this shit, I’ll never be able to fall asleep.”_

Baekhyun kicked his mattress several times, throwing a tantrum, and grabbed his mobile, quickly dialling a number.

A sleepy, hoarse voice answered on the other side.

“It’s 2:23 in the morning, Byun Baekhyun.” Sighs. Rustle of sheets. “What did I do to deserve this immense honour?”

_“I can’t sleep.”_

_“Oh, so you want both of us to be insomniac, then?”_

Laughs.

“Tell me a story, sing me a song, anything. Please.”

Automatically, a rustle of papers was heard.

Baekhyun bit his lip. Chanyeol had once again fallen asleep over his History of Music notes.

His soft, deep voice began to sing, and Baekhyun instantly melted against his pillow.

The sweet, delicate modulations of his boyfriend were always the best remedy against insomnia.

He mentally patted himself on the back for getting a music major as a boyfriend.

Baekhyun fell asleep even before Chanyeol could finish the song.

**Thing I did and never thought I would do #21: Have someone sing me a lullaby.**


	22. Of Homesickness and Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What’s wrong? You look so sad. Have you cried?”
> 
> Or
> 
> Baekhyun has his body in Korea, but Bernard’s mind is in England.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: This seems like a stupid chapter, but something from it will be relevant further down the plot. wink wink.

“He’s not moving, only gets up, goes to the bathroom and goes back to the same position. Hasn’t eaten anything at all, as well. He’s been like that for the past three days. I have no idea what’s wrong with him.”

Baekhyun could see Chen, Kyungsoo, Minseok and Yixing poking his heads into his room, the door barely open, but didn’t move at all.

“When’s Chanyeol coming back from home? You think it’s that?” Yixing asked.

“In a couple of hours.” Chen answered

“I already sent him a message, he’s coming directly here.” Kyungsoo said.

“I’m not sure If it’s the fact that Chanyeol went home for the weekend. That’s a little melodramatic, and Baekhyun is everything but melodramatic.” Everyone nodded at Minseok’s words. “Let him sleep, them. Maybe that’ll help, and let’s cross our fingers and pray Chanyeol can get him out of this funk.”

They closed the door.

Baekhyun stayed where he was, simply sighed, hugged his Pooh plushie tighter and continued to stare at the space like he was before they had interrupted him.

————————————

Somewhere along the line, he had fallen asleep, only to be woken up by a finger softly caressing his nose.

Baekhyun opened his eyes and saw Chanyeol kneeling on the floor in front of his face.

“ _Hi, love._ ” Baekhyun just stared at him. “ _What’s wrong? You look so sad. Have you cried?_ ” Baekhyun shook his head. “ _Do you feel like crying?”_

If someone had asked him that question one hour before, he would’ve answered no, and promptly kicked that someone out of his room, but the sight of Chanyeol kneeling there, eyes searching his face for any signs of alert, manged to pull him out of that emotional “nothingness” he had been stuck in, and his eyes quickly filled with tears, his lips unconsciously pouting. “Oh, Hyunnie.”

That did it. Baekhyun started sobbing loudly, and Chanyeol quickly stood up and pulled him into his arms.

Outside the door, Jongdae, feeling powerless, stared at Kyungsoo, who simply took his hand and pulled him out the front door to give the other two privacy.

Baekhyun sobbed, cried and fisted Chanyeol’s jumper tightly for hours, before he calmed down, having run out of tears.

 _“Oh, you gave yourself a temperature from crying._ ” Chanyeol said, brushing Baekhyun’s fringe away from his warm forehead. “ _Are you feeling better?”_ Baekhyun nodded.  _“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?”_

_“Today last year my grandpa died. I just… I realised how much I miss my family, I guess. And my granny is 89 years old, she’s so old, but so sweet and I love her so, so much. I just started thinking how someone can happen to her, or to anyone back home and I can’t do anything, not even be there for them, and I felt panicked, sad and powerless.”_

Chanyeol held him even tighter.

“ _Oh, love. I know it’s hard, especially on dates like this. But it’s going to be okay. You need to take it one day at a time, and appreciate what you’re living, but always loving the ones you left at home. Just remembering that if you live with your body here and your head there, you’ll never be anywhere, and you won’t be happy.”_ Baekhyun lifted his eyes to meet Chanyeol’s.  _“Maybe you can talk with your parents and get them to help you video call your grandma once or twice a week? That way she can see you and you can talk with her.”_

“What would I do without you?” Baekhyun pecked Chanyeol’s chin. _“I love you._ ”

“Not as much as I love you, _my little homesick love.”_

**Thing I did and never thought I would do #22: Be homesick.**


	23. Of Mean Flatmates and Chainsaws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Aren’t you supposed to be asleep?”   
> “I’m supposed to be a lot of things, but alas, I live to disappoint.”
> 
> Or
> 
> Chensoo kick Baekhyun out of his apartment.

“Aren’t you supposed to be asleep?” Chanyeol raised an eyebrow, seeing Baekhyun sitting on the floor, back against the couch.

Kyungsoo and Jongdae had, very politely -read, not politely at all- kicked Baekhyun out of his apartment. He was about to fight his way back inside when he heard the first moan.

He couldn’t escape faster after that.

 _“I’m supposed to be a lot of things, but alas, I live to disappoint._ ” Baekhyun joked, pulling at Chanyeol’s arm until he sat on the floor next to him.

“Okay, then at least tell me what we’re doing sitting on the floor when there are perfectly comfortable furniture around us?”

Baekhyun hummed, pulling at Chanyeol until they were both lying on their backs on the floor.

“It’s far too hot, and the floor is nice and cool. Plus, this way I can use you as a pillow.”

“You always use me as a pillow, not just when we’re lying on the floor.” Chanyeol said nothing after that.

They both started relaxing the second they had each other in their arms, and Baekhyun inwardly cringed at himself when he realised the corny things that were going through his mind, and scolded himself for hanging out with Kai, Taemin and Sehun that week. They’d been watching far too many dramas.

Chanyeol hummed a random tune, caressing Baekhyun’s arm with his hand.

“Hyunnie…”

“Yes?” Baekhyun had closed his eyes and was very sleepy at that point, body completely lax as he lay all of his body weight on top of Chanyeol.

_“What is the phobia of chainsaws called?”_

Baekhyun facepalmed himself.

_“Oh my god, Park Chanyeol. It’s called common sense. Now shut up and sleep, you idiot.”_

**Thing I did and never thought I would do #23: Sleep on the floor.**


	24. Of Stores and Lost Little Boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are you lost? Do you need help?”  
> “Yes, please.“
> 
> Or
> 
> Bernard gets lost and someone helps him back home.

Bernard stared at the unfamiliar intersection, cursing himself.

Nothing around him looked familiar.

He had left his flat two hours ago, determined to find a store he had seen on the internet that sold international products, walked for about twenty minutes, and now he was horribly lost.

High skyscrapers had morphed into houses and narrow allies, and he had absolutely no idea where he was.

Also, he still hadn’t bought a Korean SIM card, so contacting Chen and asking for help- or even using Naver maps- was not an option.

Fuck, Chen. He was going to be so mad. Just great.

“Are you lost?” He turned around as he heard someone talk to him and nodded. “Do you need help?”

The tall, handsome stranger that, somehow, resembled a horse, offered him a smile.

“Yes, please. I want to go back home but have no idea how to get there.”

He showed the stranger the paper where he had written the flat’s address.

“Oh, I live there too! What a wonderful coincidence. C’mon, I’ll show you the way.” The two started walking. “So, I noticed that’s Romanised, are you not from around?”

“Yes! I just moved here. I’m from England, and to be honest, the hangul on the street signs started to give me a headache, so I have no idea what I’m doing.”

The stranger laughed.

They walked silently for ten more minutes and, suddenly, before Bernard even realised, they were in front of his tower.

The other man punched in the door code, and they both went in.

“Floor?” The other asked when they reached the lift.

“Third”

“Oh, we’re neighbours?” The other man suddenly widened his eyes. “You must be Jongdae’s new flatmate, then?” Bernard nodded with a smile. “That’s wonderful! My name is Choi Siwon. I live with my husband, and his brother, but only temporarily, right next door, on the 303 B!”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, my name is Bernard Barnes.”

“Oh, pleasure indeed! Here we are! Well, very nice to meet you. If you ever need anything, please knock, someone tends to be at home most of the time, especially my brother-in-law, since his job is flexible.”

“Thank you so much! Have a nice day!”

Bernard wouldn’t consider the day a complete waste.

Yes, he hadn’t found the store, but he had won a friend, so it was okay.

**Thing I did and never thought I would do #24: Get lost in my own neighbourhood.**


	25. Of Blind Trust and Broken Mugs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “MIN GE, I’M COMING IN!”
> 
> “NO, WAIT, I’M HOLDING COFFEE!”
> 
> Or
> 
> The gang spends the afternoon on the roof.

((Side note:  _“English“_ ** _“Chinese“_** ))

Wind blew softly as Baekhyun enjoyed the warmth of Chanyeol’s arms around his shoulders.

The whole gang was in various degrees of relaxation around the building’s roof.

The had spent the entire afternoon playing and chatting, and celebrating the fact that tomorrow was Monday, but they had no classes, so they could do whatever they wanted.

Junmyeon was running his fingers through a sleepy Sehun’s hair absent-mindedly as he talked with Minseok about the logistics of going down the street to a barbecue restaurant versus just simply ordering chicken. The takeaway idea was winning so far.

Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, Jongdae and Baekhyun were watching the impromptu dance battle Jongin, Taemin and Yixing were having. Chanyeol and Jongdae were cheering loudly, while Kyungsoo and Baekhyun were smiling at the ruckus.

After a while, the three dancers stopped to catch their breath, and Minseok got up, asking if anyone wanted anything from their makeshift kitchen area, and handing Yixing a water bottle with a smile, as him and Junmyeon went a little further away from the group to order chicken, much to Sehun’s whines because he had lost his comfy pillow.

“Hey, Yixing Hyung”. Baekhyun heard Jongin say, as he messed around taking pictures of everyone. “I bet you can’t do this. Min, catch!” Jongin suddenly leaped into the air, and a startled Taemin quickly rushed to catch him before he fell arse first onto the floor.

Everyone stared at him as he grinned smugly, and Taemin looked at him, face full of confusion.

Baekhyun kept the camera app open. He had a hunch about what would happen next.

“I bet if I run and leap at Xiumin, he will most certainly catch me.”

“No way!” Kyungsoo said, eyes opening wide. “You’re taller than him, you’ll both get hurt!”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Sehun said, sitting up with a joyful glint in his eyes, ready for a laugh.

**_“MIN GE, I’M COMING IN!”_ **

Yixing took off running towards the unsuspecting eldest, who had just finished ordering the food and was making his way back to the group.

 ** _“NO, WAIT, I’M HOLDING COFFEE!”_**  Minseok squeaked in panic, letting the mug fall to the ground as soon as he saw Yixing had no intentions of stopping, and swiftly catching him as he jumped into his arms.

Everyone stood frozen for a couple seconds, before they all started laughing loudly, as Minseok let Yixing stand on the floor gently, and began scolding him for his stunt, and Jongin and Taemin hi-fived.

“That was amazing!” Chanyeol chuckled into Baekhyun’s ear. “ _Oh, man_ , I wish I had filmed it.”

Baekhyun’s sudden loud laugh startled everyone, as he had been quite silent up to that point.

 _“Oh, god, oh my god, Yeol, look at this!”_  He shoved his mobile under Chanyeol’s nose, who took one look at the screen and began wheezing again.

The picture showed a wide-eyed, panicked Minseok starting to close his arms around a gleeful, Yixing, whose body was suspended mid-air.

**Thing I did and never thought I would do #25: Take the perfect picture.**


	26. Of Supermarket Runs from Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Remind me again, why did we agree to come to the supermarket with those two?”  
> “Because we’re idiots?”  
> “Most likely.”
> 
> Or
> 
> Never take both maknaes at the same time anywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! This is the last of the "pre posted" chapters, and also, the last of the chapters written in the old format (short chapters, light on plot). From now on, chapters will be longer and heavier on plot, so I hope you enjoy them!   
> As always, find me on Twitter, my account is @k1mheechu1, where I rant about things, and usually become a figure skating twitter during the skating season.

“Remind me again, why did we agree to come to the supermarket with those two?” asked Minseok, watching Jongin and Sehun push each other as they walked in front of them to the supermarket.

“Because we’re idiots?” Baekhyun answered, and Minseok snorted.

“Most likely.”

Jongin, Sehun and Yixing had lost at rock paper scissors when they were choosing who was supposed to go buy the things they needed for dinner.

But everyone knew that allowing Jongin to go anywhere with Sehun without a responsible adult was extremely dangerous for the entire group’s well being and Yixing, bless his heart, was far too kind and innocent to not get trolled or puppy eyed into letting the disastrous duo do whatever they wanted, so he had been replaced with Minseok. Then Jongdae, treacherous little scum Jongdae, had volunteered Baekhyun as a bag carrier, and that’s why he had gone along.

The task was supposed to be easy. Get to the market, buy the necessary things for ten twenty-something years old to have dinner, but any task became difficult when you had two troublemakers in your midst.

“Let’s do it like this: you keep your eyes on them, and I’ll make sure to get everything in Kyungsoo’s list, okay?”

“ _Got it_.” Baekhyun nodded and run to Jongin who was already running into the market as Sehun got a trolley. “ _Jongin-ah, wait!_  We’re supposed to shop for things together!”

“Sorry hyung! I got excited by the chocolate display.”

Baekhyun sighed. He was already regretting this. He would so get revenge on Jongdae for this later, that’s for sure.

It took them forty-five minutes to get everything and make their way home.

(“No,  **Jongin** , you  **cannot**  buy five dozen bags of biscuits.” “Sehun, leave that fish alone! _I swear to god; you guys are worse than two five years old!”_  “Who the fuck put a bag of frozen broccoli in the trolley?” “Sorry Minseok hyung, that was me, I’ll pay for it separately.” “Oh, it’s okay, Baek, I thought it had been one of the children.”)

“Was everything okay?” Junmyeon asked, rushing to the door to help them with the bags as sook as they opened the flat’s door. “Was there anything you couldn’t get?”

“Yeah, a nice, long holiday trip to a deserted island.” Baekhyun muttered, fishing his broccoli out of a bag and quickly tossing it inside the freezer before anyone realised.

“We got everything,  _ **but I need the number to a fucking psychiatrist.**_  I’m never again taking both Maknaes at the same time with only two of us to keep them under control. EVER.” Minseok sobbed, throwing himself into Yixing’s arms, who instantly started sweetly petting his hair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was close to midnight, and Baekhyun was laying on his bed, half his body on top of Chanyeol’s, face buried in his soft shirt, snuggling tiredly as the other read pages of a book aloud.

“AAAAARGHH!!!” A yell was heard, and Chanyeol dropped his book to the floor, startled. “WHAT THE FUCK!?”

“Is he okay?” asked Chanyeol, worriedly. Baekhyun snickered.

“BERNARD PARK!” Jongdae screamed and Baekhyun started laughing loudly. “YOU’RE AN EVIL LITTLE SHIT!!”

“ _KARMA’S A BITCH!_  THINK TWICE BEFORE OPENING YOUR MOUTH IN THE FUTURE!” Baekhyun yelled back.

“FUCK YOU!”

Chanyeol looked at him, eyebrows raised.

“ _What did you do to him?”_

_“He volunteered me for babysitting the Maknaes in the supermarket run from hell… so I stuffed a bag of frozen broccoli inside his blankets.”_

Chanyeol just shook his head. He’d never understand those two.

(Just in case, he made a mental note to never make his boyfriend mad. He was surprisingly creative with his revenges and he did not want to be on his bad side any given day.)

**Thing I did and never thought I would do #26: Babysit two grown adults.**


	27. Of Sunsets and Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You don’t have to tell me. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”
> 
> “I want to tell you. Maybe it’ll make it easier if another person knows.“
> 
> Or
> 
> Baekhyun learns something. It changes nothing, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING FOR CHILD ABUSE
> 
> Also, Hi, this is the first chapter of the new format, a little longer and more plot-dense than previous chapters.   
> From now on, I'll be updating two times a week (tuesdays and fridays, probably, but I am a Uni student, so maybe it'll get wonky). I hope you guys like it!  
> (Please, please, please review if you can. It seriously feels like I'm throwing chapters to the void, and I'm starting to get demotivated by the lack of response I guess? I love this story and will see it the whole way through, but it feels kinda... sad, I guess, to see the view count going up but still get no feedback)

Kyungsoo and Jongdae were making dinner for the six people in the flat. Well, more like Kyungsoo was making dinner while stopping Jongdae from making a mess.

Minseok and Yixing were laying comfortably on the couch, and Baekhyun was amusing himself by throwing popcorn at his boyfriend, who had long stopped complaining about the attack, and began catching it with his mouth and munching on it, both softly laughing when a piece hit him in the eye or nose.

The news were playing on the background, but no one was paying attention to them.

“… a fifty years old man was sentenced to death penalty this afternoon in Ilsan, found guilty of the murder of his children, a two years old daughter and a seven years old son that he brutally beat to death. The case generated widespread shock in the public as he was found by police after they found both bodies hidden inside…”

“ARGH!”

“Jongdae, you idiot, I told you to cut the pickled radish, not your hand!”

“Sorry, I just lost focus for a second!”

“Go wash that before it gets infected and stop dripping blood all over the floor!”

Baekhyun stopped throwing popcorn at Chanyeol as he saw Jongdae rush towards the bathroom, hand wrapped tightly by a red stained kitchen towel.

He waited for a little bit, but when he didn’t hear any water running, he set the popcorn bowl on top of the coffee table.

“I’ll go check if he needs any help.  _Chan, go help Soo or we’ll eat next year._ ”

He swiftly made his way to the bathroom, were he found a pale Jongdae, simply standing in front of the sink, kitchen towel forgotten on the floor, eyes glazed over and staring at his hand as the blood dripped from the wound onto the sink, forming a small red patch that grew larger by the minute, just as Jongdae’s face grew paler.

“Chen are you okay?” Baekhyun asked carefully, and that snapped his friend out of his own head.”

“Yeah, just… a little lightheaded.” He was suddenly swaying a little, and Baekhyun quickly rushed to stand behind him to stabilise him just in case he began to fall.

“It’s okay, let’s wash this and then I’ll get the first aid kit and we’ll get you patched up.”

He made quick work of washing the cut on Jongdae’s palm thoroughly, and then guided him to sit on the living room, signalling Yixing and Minseok to keep an eye on him as he went back to the bathroom to get everything he needed.

Baekhyun quickly knelt in front of Jongdae, taking his hand and carefully inspecting the wound. Fortunately, it was no longer bleeding, just a couple of drops here and there, but it looked better now the blood had been washed off and didn’t appear serious enough for a hospital trip.

“Okay, it’s not deep enough for you to need stitches, which is great. Now, this will burn, but bear with me, please.” He took the disinfectant soaked cotton ball and gently pressed it to the wound, making Jongdae whimper. I know, sorry. That’s it. Now, I’ll wrap it with gauze and you’ll be as good as new.” Baekhyun quickly wrapped the gauze bandage tightly, but not uncomfortably so around his flatmate’s hand, and patted his arm when he finished. “There, all done.”

“Thanks, Baek.” Jongdae said, leaning against the back of the couch. “Sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s okay, I’m used to helping with things like this. I used to volunteer at a children’s sports club when I was on secondary school for a while because of a school project, and there were lots of scrapped knees to take care of.” He said lightly.

The sound of Chanyeol and Kyungsoo yelling that the food was done made everyone quickly migrate to the table, and soon, the flat was filled with loud laughter and sounds of chopsticks hitting plates.

——————

Baekhyun sighed as he lay his forehead against his Introduction to Social Movements in History textbook. His brain was fried after reading non-stop since he had arrived home after a morning full of lectures. He looked at the clock, surprised to see it was so late already. Time had passed quickly without him realising.

He made his way to the kitchen, grabbing a box of pepero and a can of cola, and headed out of the flat, saying hello to Kyuhyun, who was coming out of the lift carrying grocery bags.

He pressed the button for the seventeenth floor, exiting the lift when the doors opened, and heading towards the door that hid the stairs that took him to the rooftop.

He was still surprised that no one in the whole seventeen floors high building used the roof other than the two of them (and the whole gang, of course. It was the go to place for impromptu barbecue parties.)

He sat on the chairs that were there for public use, sipping on his cola and eating the pepero absentmindedly.

He felt more than heard his mobile, and took it out of his pocket, smiling when he saw who was calling. He was quick to accept the Skype call, and the familiar face, framed by blonde hair soon filled the device’s screen.

 _“Mummy!”_  He exclaimed happily, smile wide.

_“Hi Bernie! How’s my baby doing?”_

_“I’m 22, mum, I’m not a baby.”_

_“Hush you, you could be 60 with a spouse and children and you’d still be my baby.”_  His mum’s smile mirrored his, voice soft and sweet.  _“How’s everything going, Bernie?”_

_“Great! I’m at the rooftop, it’s almost time for sunset and you know I love it.”_

_“I know. When you were a child and we went to Spain on holidays, you would always whine that you should’ve been living there, so you could watch the sun set every day.”_

_“Well, I live on a high building now, so I can soak up eighteenth floor sunsets for a year before I go back to rainy England.”_  He munched on another pepero stick. “ _How’s everyone doing this week? I’m sorry I haven’t been able to call daily, uni is being a bother right now.”_

 _“Everyone’s doing great, don’t worry son. We know you’re studying hard, and we’re so proud of you, and you’re doing it all on your second language! If someone had come to me while in Uni and asked me if I wanted to go for a year to France and take classes in French I would’ve probably hidden under the table until they left.”_ Baekhyun laughed.  _“Your father finally fixed the squeaking step on top of the stairs, and Lucy has been enjoying sneaking downstairs for a midnight snack without us knowing. By the way, your Gran is sending you a package, so as soon as I have the tracking number, I’ll give it to you.”_

_“Is it food? Please tell me it’s food. I’m about to die from Jaffa Cake withdrawal.”_

_“I think there might be some food in there.”_

_“YES! Tell Gran I love her so so much, and she’s my bestest Gran ever!”_

_“She’s your only Gran.”_

_“I know, but she’s still the bestest.”_

_“Bernard, go inside so I can see your face while we talk. I can tell the sun already set, and you’ll get ill if you stay outside, baby.”_

_Mum!”_

————————————-

Baekhyun was startled into consciousness that night.

Disoriented, he wondered what it had been that had stirred him up, until he heard a distinct sob and whimpers of pain.

That had woken him up instantly, and he quickly put on his slippers and run to Jongdae’s room.

He found him trashing against his mattress, sweating profusely and screaming. Baekhyun rushed to the bed and took him by the shoulders.

“Chen.” He tried. “Chen wake up!” He shook him and the other woke up, instantly sitting up with a gasp, and instinctively trying to get away from his hold. “It’s okay, it’s me, Baekhyun. You’re safe.” Jongdae’s eyes lost the glazed look they had but filled with tears as he threw himself into Baekhyun’s arms, sobbing into his shirt as the older one hugged him tightly against his body, running his fingers through his hair in a calming manner. “It’s okay, it was just a nightmare.” Jongdae sobbed louder.

“I wish it was just a nightmare.” He choked out, sobs getting in the way of his words. Baekhyun shushed him, allowing him to cry, and eventually calm down. “Sorry. It’s been a while since this happened.”

“You get nightmares frequently?”

Jongdae doubted for a minute, and stared at Baekhyun’s face, scanning it for something. Whatever it was he was looking for, he seemed to find it.

“They’re not nightmares.” He took a deep breathe. “They’re flashbacks.”

Baekhyun gasped.

“You don’t have to tell me. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”

“I want to tell you. Maybe it’ll make it easier if another person knows.

You know, I wasn’t always Kim Jongdae from Siheung, Gyeonggi-do. Kim Jongdae was born when I was seven years old. Before that I was Jung Gunhyeong, from Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do.

My biological mother died when I was four. She was pregnant with my little sister, and we were all so, so excited. But something went wrong, and one day she was rushed to the hospital and never came back- I couldn’t really understand anything the doctors said, so I don’t know what happened to her, but I understood that she would never wake up, and that my baby sister was gone as well.

My biological father was fine for the first two or so months, grieving, but still treating me as he always had. But after that, he began drinking heavily.

Then, one day, he was extremely drunk when he came home. I had been waiting for hours for him to come back, and asked for food, and he just snapped, slapped me and took me to my room.

That was the first time. I got locked in my room a lot, slapped and punished for small things, given no food until the rare moments when he was sober, when he would feed me, hug me and ask for forgiveness.

It went on for about a year, until a night when he came back and was different, I think he was on drugs now that I think back. He slapped me like every day, but that night he didn’t stop at that. I was lucky that the neighbours heard my screams and called the police.

He beat me within an inch of my life. I spent a month in the hospital recovering from that night.

He was sent to jail, and I was shipped to an orphanage.

I was lucky enough that the day I arrived, a couple that couldn’t have children was visiting the orphanage. My mum says it was love at first sight. She saw tiny me standing awkwardly to the side, and instantly knew I was her son.” He smiled. “They adopted me and asked me if I wanted to keep my name, but I refused. Gunhyeong had only bad memories. So, I became Kim Jongdae, son of two loving, wonderful parents, and have been ever since.” He looked at Baekhyun. “Minseok hyung is the only person that knows. He used to live next door to me, so he saw me when my parents brought me home. He was nine at the time and took me under his wing. We’ve been best friends ever since.”

“It was the news, wasn’t it?” Jongdae raised an eyebrow. “What triggered you. The news the day you cut your hand.”

Jongdae nodded.

“It brought it all back. The kid was my age, it could’ve been me if I hadn’t screamed loud enough, or if the neighbours decided to ignore it.” He dried his cheeks. “Please don’t pity me for having been abused, or for being adopted.”

“I would never pity you for being adopted. Besides, you’re still Kim Jongdae, my best internet friend, my silly, louder than life prankster flatmate, the Chen that’s a loyal friend and one hell of a good guy.” They smiled at each other. “Thank you for telling me. It couldn’t have been easy. Thank you for trusting me with this. It changes nothing, though. And I will still get revenge for the flour in the hair dryer prank you played at me last Friday.”

Loud laughs resonated in the empty flat.

**Thing I did and never thought I would do # 27 Watch the sunset from a tall building.**

**Thing I did and never thought I would do #28: Have someone trust me with a secret.**


	28. Of Birthdays and Bad Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘It’s okay’
> 
> Breath in. Breath out.
> 
> ‘It’s okay, Byun Baekhyun. Stop it. Just Breathe.’
> 
> Or
> 
> It’s Baekhyun’s birthday. But no one remembered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! How are you doing? I'm uploading this week's chapter =D I hope you like it, and I'll see you on Tuesday =)

_english_ ** _written_**   **Kakao messages**

****

“ _I’m bored.”_

_“I know.”_

Silence. Five minutes later.

_“I’m bored.”_

_“I know.”_

Sighs.

_“I’m bored”_

_“Park Chanyeol, if you say you’re bored one more time, I’m kicking you out of this room.”_

_“Humpf.”_

Pouts. Silence.

_“I’m bored.”_

_“OH, FOR FUCKS’ SAKE!”_

Baekhyun kneeled on the bed and promptly sat on top of his boyfriend’s chest.

_“You’re heavy! Get off!”_

_“Are you going to keep bothering me?”_

_“No, I’ll go bother Jongdae and Kyungsoo, I swear!”_

_“God, now get out of here._ ” Baekhyun said, standing up.  _“I have a lecture, go be a pest over there.”_

Chanyeol huffed and pouted his way out of the room.

Baekhyun sighed and run his fingers through his hair. He felt guilty for a minute, for being so harsh on Chanyeol, but scowled a second later.

He had tried to be patient, but he was reaching his breaking point.

You see, today was his birthday, and it was the first birthday he would ever have to spend away from his family, but that on its own would’ve been okay. He had skyped with them, his mum had gotten the entire family together, his Gran included, and had called him at midnight, which had made him so, so happy, he had started crying and everyone panicked on the other side of the screen, which in turn made him laugh like crazy.They had talked for a couple of hours, before Baekhyun started yawning every two words, and his father started herding everyone away from the computer, ending the call with a  _“Talk to you later, Bernie!_ ” and a wink.

He had then gone to bed, slept like a log, and woken up excited, running to the kitchen to find… an empty flat.Jongdae’s chicken scrawl on a note written in Hangul was the only thing that welcomed him.

**_Made too much Gyeran-Jjim, so the leftovers are inside the microwave if you want to have it for breakfast. There’s warm rice in the rice cooker. I’m going out with Soo, be back after lunch_ ** **_\- Chen_ **

Baekhyun frowned.He rushed back to his bedroom, unplugged his mobile from the charger, and unlocked the screen. Most of his classmates from back home had sent him some variation of “Happy Birthday Bern” or “Cheers”, but no one, not even one of the friends he’d made in Korea had sent him anything.

He checked every single social media, just in case, and turned the internet off and then back on. Still nothing. Not even from his boyfriend.

He spent the next few hours studying because, why not? It wasn’t like he had anyone to talk to or anything to do.After lunch, which he didn’t eat, by the way, even if he hadn’t had breakfast as well, so offended by the fact that Jongdae didn’t tell him happy birthday on the note that he had completely forgone the eggs and rice, he heard loud voices and the front door’s locking pinging before unlocking.

“Baek!” He heard Jongdae before he saw him, as he stuck his head inside Baekhyun’s bedroom through the open door. “We brought mochi! Do you want some?”

Baekhyun deflated a bit.

“No, thanks. I’m not hungry.” 

Jongdae shrugged and went back to the living room.

“What are you doing?” A curious voice made him jump, startled. He turned around to find Chanyeol standing on the doorway, smiling softly at him.

“Studying.” His answer was a bit… dry, but you couldn’t blame him! He hadn’t even congratulated him!

“Come cuddle with me, I had practise today and I’m dying.”

Baekhyun closed his book, a little too forcefully, but Chanyeol said nothing as he settled into his arms on top of the covers.

They had cuddled until Baekhyun’s temper had caused him to snap at Chanyeol.

He was not sorry.

Baekhyun sighed again, getting his things and pocketing his mobile.He quickly made his way to the door, putting on his shoes.

“I’m heading out.” He announced.

He received three “Okay, bye”’s as an answer, his friends and boyfriend too focused on the drama they were watching to pay real attention to him.He closed the door loudly and stomped down the hallway

.————————————–

It was almost 8 PM when he got out of his last lecture and began making his way home. He checked his phone and found one new message from Jongdae.

**The guys are over, so come directly to the roof when you get back. We’re celebrating Yixing’s paper got published.**

**Ok**

He put his phone away, and smiled sadly, his sight clouding with tears

‘It’s okay’

Breath in. Breath out.

‘It’s okay, Byun Baekhyun. Stop it. Just Breathe.’

A couple of treacherous tears made their way down his cheeks as he walked back home.

————————————–

He could hear the ruckus the second he got out of the lift, making his way to the entry and opening the door. 

He looked up and froze.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAEKHYUN!!”

 Everyone was there.

His friends, his neighbours, his classmates.

They had remembered his birthday.

Chanyeol walked forward, smiling.

_“Surprise!”_

Baekhyun took one breath… and started sobbing.

Chanyeol freaked out, grabbing his cheeks softly, drying the tears, only to have new ones wetting the skin again. Baekhyun buried his head on the crook of his neck and started hitting his shoulders with his fists.

 _“You idiot.”_  His voice sounded thick through his tears. “ _You big, bloody idiot. I fucking hate you.”_  He snuggled closer to the taller body.  _“I thought you all had fucking forgotten about my birthday. I was so fucking sad the entire day_.”

“I’m sorry.” Chanyeol caressed his hair, and relaxed a bit as Baekhyun laughed wetly, his sobs subsiding.

He took a step back, drying his face with his sweater sleeve.

“Happy Birthday!!” A bubbly Yixing said, smiling sweetly. “Chanyeol planned the entire thing!”

Baekhyun’s eyes narrowed, and Chanyeol raised his hands.

“Only the party. As in, I invited people and got the food. Jongdae was the one that came up with the brilliant idea of making you think no one remembered today was your birthday.”

Baekhyun looked murderous as he turned towards his best friend, whose smile instantly froze, face paling.

“Oh fuck.” Jongdae whispered, searching for Kyungsoo’s hand.

“Oh no, you’re on your own, mate.” Minseok said, tugging on Kyungsoo’s arms until he was hidden behind Taemin and Jongin. “We need him if we want to keep this family fed.”

“Help…” He squeaked, as he saw Baekhyun walking towards him.

“KIM JONGDAE!!!!”

There was a collective gulp.

Once again, everyone made a mental note to never anger Baekhyun if they wanted to keep all their limbs attached to their bodies.

The cute, small British boy could be so scary sometimes.

————————–     

**Thing I did and never thought I would do #29: Have someone surprise me on my birthday**

 

 


	29. In Which I Stop For a While

Hi everyone!

I'm writing this to inform you that I'll be taking some time off from this story.

To be honest, I'm taking a break from the kpop writing community as a whole, especially on Tumblr, for more than a month now.

I was getting pretty horrible messages in Tumblr, and it was doing all sorts of bad things for my mental health, so I simply left.

I tried to keep this story going because I love it. I've been planning the plot for years, even before I decided to dedicate it to our 9 dorks, but I keep having to force myself to sit and write for this.

And since writing has always been a huge part of my life, and one of the main ways I manage my anxiety, I don't want to see it become one of the reasons my anxiety gets me in bad places.

So, this story is going on Hiatus for a while, at least until I sort things out and start enjoying writing kpop fics again.

I will finish it, I think now I know this notice will be up, I'll maybe feel less pressured and be able to write more chapters just for the sake of writing, without thinking about deadlines or the need to update.

I'll keep active on other fandoms (mainly YoI and Figure Skating RPF) so if you want, you can check those out.

Until the next time,

 

                                  Narwhal


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